Chlorine vs. UV

[Yellowirenut]

Wile working on the cooling tower of a large office building the chemical guy stopped by. His job is to provide the right chemicals at the right dosage to keep bugs and growths out of the cooling tower along with keeping solids suspended to be filtered out. We we talking about how the city water is damaging certain parts of the system and why so much chemical must be used. He then informed me that the city as part of a huge water filtration overhaul is going to be replacing the chlorination of the water with UV treatment. His problem with that is that UV is only able to kill the bugs at the time of exposure. The water can pick up many things on its way threw the system with 100 yr old pipes.

Wile I have not studied to much on water for brewing I still want to use good water. As of now I used spring water from Meijer. Its source is a well in Michigan. It taste much better than my unfiltered tap water.

I would like to save a big portion of the brewing cost and use tap water but at this time I do not like the chemicals added to it. How much do you think the water profile would change after the use of UV instead of Chlorine?
They still add chemicals to help drop solids out of the water, those would effect my brewing also? The source of the water is rivers and myself think the water change in taste with the seasons so a carbon filter would be a must.

Sorry for the early morning ramblings. I woke thinking It was Friday and I had to work. Was not till I was up, dressed with first cup of coffee and tried to watch the news I realized it was Saturday.

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

Build all your beers from RO (or distilled). I do.

I've found EZ Water, Bru N Water, & Amazon useful for some of the salts you'll need.

Also, Palmer's water book just came out and might help.

 

[Wynne-R]

Chances are you have either chlorine or chloramine. My local utility uses UV treatment for primary disinfection and chloramine before it hits the distribution network. The state requires a certain residual level of disinfectant at the tap.

Draw a glass from the tap and take a big ol’ whiff. Does it smell like chlorine? There you go. A little Campden is cheap insurance.

 

[user 108580]

For what its worth, uv disinfection doesn't kill at all. It alters the cellular DNA of pathogens rendering them incapable of replicating. So when they die, thats it. We use it at the wastewater plant I work at to disinfect our effluent.

And there's your fun fact for the day.

 

[user 108580]

And I too support the use of RO water and building your mineral profile from scratch. It's easier to control and cheap. I pay like $0.30 a gallon at my local whole foods for it.

 

[Ramitt]

My city water is decent for brewing, I run the it through a filter setup and use campden to break down Chloramine. Small mineral additions and I am good.